Category Archives: Economics

CAN QUALITY OF LIFE INCREASE EVEN THOUGH ENERGY SUPPLIES CAN’T GROW? One way that the Finite Physicist differs from economists is that he considers improvements in quality of life to be separate from economic growth. He asks the question: …if … Continue reading →

PHYSICAL LIMITS ON THE USE OF ENERGY RATHER THAN THE SUPPLY OF ENERGY. Kids, economists have typically responded to Limits of Growth arguments by emphasizing the importance of substitution—consumers and producers will substitute other ways of making or saving energy … Continue reading →

THERMODYNAMIC LIMITS TO ENERGY GROWTH. I have often encountered arguments on the physical limits to economic growth that are based on a fixed supply of energy or on adverse consequences of global warming. The “Finite Physicist” makes a different argument … Continue reading →

MALTHUSIANS AND PHYSICISTS; CORNUCOPIANS AND ECONOMISTS. The Limits to Growth model goes back to Malthus. Over the last 40 years, the model has been a focus of a lot of the arguments between Malthusians and what the Economist has called … Continue reading →

EXPONENTIAL ECONOMIST MEETS FINITE PHYSICIST (COMMENT). Henry Nejako in a comment here called my attention to what Henry—rightly—calls “a clever dialogue between a physicist and and economist about the limits to economic growth, set forth in four acts and an … Continue reading →